Kanye West at Milk Studios on 28 June 2016 in Hollywood, California. adidas and Kanye West announce the future of their partnership: adidas + KANYE WEST. Image: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for ADIDAS
Adidas immediately terminates Kanye partnership over antisemitism
‘I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?’ said Kanye earlier this month. Adidas announced it could lose up to €250 million in 2022 after ending the partnership.
Kanye West at Milk Studios on 28 June 2016 in Hollywood, California. adidas and Kanye West announce the future of their partnership: adidas + KANYE WEST. Image: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for ADIDAS
German sportswear giant Adidas announced the termination of its partnership with Kanye West on Tuesday, 25 October. This comes after public pressure mounted after the rapper made a series of hateful and offensive comments about Jewish people.
ADIDAS CUTS TIES WITH KANYE WEST
With the termination of the partnership, Adidas will stop producing Yeezy-branded products and put a stop to all payments to Kanye West and his companies. The company began a review of its partnership with Kanye on 6 October.
This move is expected to have a negative impact of up to €250 million (Over R4.5 billion) on Adidas’ net income in 2022, said the company.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” said the company.
The company also asserted that it is the sole owner of all design rights to existing Yeezy products as well as previous and new colourways created during the partnership.
Kanye said, “I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” during a podcast appearance on 16 October.
The company’s shares fell 4% earlier on Tuesday after Bloomberg published a report about its plans to end the partnership with Kanye.
READ:
